Your Prime Day shopping spree might result in phishing emails

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With Amazon’s Prime Day taking place well over a month ago, most orders should have been received by most consumers at this point. Scammers have decided to take advantage of this event by spoofing Amazon emails. The imposters are sending emails that begin by thanking customers for their recent order on Amazon.com and then invite them to write a quick review on that product by clicking on an active link. In return, they receive a $50 bonus. Not really!

The link currently takes you to a fake Amazon page that asks for the consumer’s login credentials. Once the link is clicked, malware is downloaded onto the victim’s computer. This link can be changed at any time by the scammers, to fool unsuspecting victims and throw off Amazon IT experts trying to shut this scam down. Below is a copy of the email that is currently circulating:

Take a look at these suggestions from Amazon to help recognize phishing attacks like this one:

Fake orders – If you receive an email claiming to be from Amazon confirming an order that you did not place, it’s a scam. Instead of clicking links within the email, type Amazon.com into your browser, sign in and go to the Your Orders page to verify your purchases. If you didn’t buy the item from the email, it’s a phishing scam.

Credential request – Amazon does not send emails requesting your username and/or password. If you receive an email like this, it’s a scam.

Update payment information – You should never click a link within an email asking you to update your payment information. Instead, go to your Amazon account and click Manage Payment Options in the Payment section. If you are not prompted to update your payment method on that screen, the email is not from Amazon.

Disguised links – That link may not be what you think. If you receive an email with a link that supposedly goes to Amazon, hover over the link with your cursor. If it does say that it’s going to direct you to Amazon, it’s a phishing scam.

Attachments – Emails purportedly from Amazon that contain attachments or prompts to install software on your computer are scams.” Source: Amazon and Komando.com